


The Baby Whisperer

by SarahShalomDavid



Category: The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Genre: Baby, Babysitting, Birthday, Birthday Party, F/F, Family, Family Fluff, Maternal Instincts, Teething
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-10-16
Packaged: 2019-03-10 16:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13505331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahShalomDavid/pseuds/SarahShalomDavid
Summary: She pursed her lips, standing in the middle of the corridor listening carefully, and the staff around her were unsure as to how to react to what she was doing. The woman tilted her head slightly as she listened to the noise for a moment and then, rather quickly, she turned around and moved in the direction of the sound. They could hear a baby crying. A very loud and upset baby.





	1. Teething

Nigel was sat in his office, leaning over his desk as he scanned his eyes over the layouts that were lying on his desk.

The sound of an infant starting to fuss sounded through the room and so he moved the papers out of the way before getting up from the desk and moving over to the pram that was sat to the side of the room.

At the side of his office was a black pram with hot pink detailing, inside of the pram was a small infant that was only three-months-old, she was dressed in a bright pink onesie that was covered in white stars. The little girl was covered partially with a white baby blanket and she was starting to cry.

"Oh no, no, no", the man said as he moved closer to the infant's pram, "None of that now".

Her cries simply increased rather than stopping or even pausing.

Nigel reached into the pram, pulling back the blanket and lifting out the squirming child, "Heyy", he said softly as he cradled her in his arms.

The little one paused her cries for a moment.

"That's better", he said with a smile as he held her in his arms. He had agreed to watch the baby whilst Andrea was in an interview for a new journalist role within Runway. What she did not know, however, was that Miranda had already told her interviewer to give Andrea the job. The interviewer had been instructed not to allow Andrea to know about that though and to just carry out the interview as planned before offering the young woman the position at the end of it.

She did not pause for long though because, within seconds of the noise stopping, she started again, but this time she was much louder than she had been previously.

Nigel rocked the little girl in his arms, trying to stop her crying but continuously failing to do so, "Oh I do hope your mother is finished with her interview soon", he mumbled as he walked around his office and attempted to stop her crying.

The little girl kicked her arms and legs as she screamed loudly in his arms.

Miranda was stood in the beauty department going over the options for their latest cover shoot, she nodded, "That will be acceptable", she said to the last option that she was shown on an example model that had been chosen to look as close to the cover star as they could possibly get which turned out to be one of the writers.

When she left the room, she made her way along the corridor but then she froze at a sound. She pursed her lips, standing in the middle of the corridor and the staff around her were unsure as to how to react to what she was doing.

The woman tilted her head slightly as she listened to the noise for a moment and then, rather quickly, she turned around and moved in the direction of the cries.

She arrived at the doors of Nigel's office and was surprised to see the man walking around his office whilst bouncing a baby in his arms.

The baby was continuing to cry, nothing he was doing was stopping the sounds that she was making, and there were people starting to try and look in but none of them were doing anything to assist. Then again they seemed a little unsure of what was going on and even less sure about how they were supposed to react.

Miranda rolled her eyes and instantly walked into the office, "What on earth is going on Nigel?", she demanded to know as soon as she entered the room.

Nigel looked even more flustered, "I… I offered to look after her while Six is having her interview", he revealed, "But she just won't stop crying".

"Give her here", the Editor-in-Chief suddenly demanded as she moved closer to him with her arms out to him.

The man hesitated, unsure of what to do and unsure what exactly was going on but he did as she had requested and offered the infant to her.

Miranda took the baby into her arms and held her closely against her chest.

The baby stopped crying straight away, sniffling a little bit as the sound quietened down.

"How?", Nigel questioned in shock.

Miranda ignored his question, "What's her name?".

"Huh?", he said, still shocked.

"Her name, Nigel?", Miranda asked again, "I trust that she has one".

Nigel nodded, "Elisa", he said quietly, not wanting to disturb the quiet child, "Short for Elisabeth".

"Well hello there Elisabeth", Miranda said softly to the baby in her arms, rocking her carefully in a rather maternal movement.

Various staff members were conveniently walking past the man's office to see what was happening inside with their boss and an infant.

The baby began to fuss again and Miranda didn't seem fazed at all. She carefully curled one of her fingers before placing it in the infant's mouth, "She's teething", the woman stated, "Do you have anything for her?".

Nigel shook his head, "I don't think so, Six never mentioned that she was teething. He moved to the pram and pulled the bag off of the handles before placing it on the table so that she could look inside of it to search for something that the baby may need.

Miranda rocked the little one in her arms, soothing the again quiet child by letting her chew on her finger. She was cooing over her and smiling happily with the child in her arms.

"I don't see anything", Nigel said, "There's a pacifier? Will that help?".

The Editor-in-Chief extracted her finger from the child's mouth and using that hand to reach out for the item.

Elisabeth began to cry straight away, clearly unimpressed about the removal of the woman's finger.

Within seconds Miranda was placing the pacifier into Elisabeth's mouth.

The baby sucked on the pacifier for a moment but then spat it out after a moment before screaming again, although even louder than she had been when Miranda had initially removed her finger from her mouth.

"Bring her pram", Miranda demanded as she moved to the door, not explaining her actions.

Nigel did not question it but instead, she opened the door for the woman who was carrying the infant in hers.

Miranda Priestly made her way past a variety of her staff members and made her way to her office, ignoring the people that she passed and instead focusing on the little girl that was in her arms. The baby was now quiet in her arms and yet again sucking on her curled finger.

When the woman got to her office, she was met with two very surprised and confused looking assistants, "Emily, I need teething gel and some teething toys", she stated, "I expect it here within the next ten minutes".

One of the assistants got up from her desk and was soon running to the elevator in order to leave to get the required items.

Miranda entered her office with the little one in her arms and moved to sit down on the sofa at the side of the room.

Nigel followed her in and pushed the pram so that it was sat by the desk. He watched, still in shock, as his boss rocked the infant in her arms whilst softly whispering to her. "Who would have thought it", he commented with a slight smirk, "Miranda Priestly. Devil in Prada. The Baby Whisperer".

Miranda rolled her eyes at her friend's comment, "I do have twin girls, Nigel", she replied, "Or have you forgotten that I did this with two infants at once?".

Nigel smiled, "Well, I'm just grateful you were able to stop her crying", he admitted, leaving it unsaid that he did not know what to do with the child or why she was crying. In the time that it had taken for Miranda to leave the beauty department and arrive in his office, he had checked Elisabeth's diaper and also attempted to give her a bottle, both of which were failures as neither stopped her increasingly loud cries.

"You can go back to work Nigel", Miranda stated without looking up at him and instead keeping her concentration on the infant.

"But Six…", he began.

"Andrea can come to my office in order to collect Elisabeth once her interview is finished", Miranda stated.

Nigel was unsure but he hesitantly nodded before he did exactly what he was told to do, leaving the three-month-old child in the care of his boss.

Miranda smiled down at the child, she was quite happy to hold the little one and she could not help but see Andrea's face in her mind as she looked down into the eyes of the beautiful baby in her arms.

Minutes later, an assistant rushed into the room, out of breath, she had a bag in her hands and moved directly to Miranda.

"Well?", the woman said with her hand out.

The assistant opened the bag and pulled out the various teething toys placing them into the sofa beside her boss along with a few different teething gels, "I wasn't sure which one to get so…".

"That's all", she stated, dismissing the younger woman from her office.

The blonde woman rushed from the office as quickly as she possibly could without looking back for even a moment.

Miranda opened the tube of teething gel and managed to apply it rather quickly, yet carefully, in a way that only a mother was able to.

The little one had started to fuss when Miranda had removed her finger, clearly, she was fond of chewing on it but then she had quietened when the woman had returned her finger to her mouth. This time, however, the finger was coated in teething gel and it was being applied soothingly to her gums.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-

"Hey Nig….", Andrea froze as she entered the office, looking around for the first time as she had not taken much notice when she first walked up to the man's office, "Where is Elisa?", she questioned with worry in her voice.

Nigel looked up from his work, whipping his glasses off and rubbing his nose as he spoke, "Miranda has her", he stated.

Her jaw dropped and her eyes widened, "Whyyyyy?", she questioned, elongating the word as she spoke it.

"Elisa started to cry and for some reason, no matter what I did, she just did not stop", he explained, "Miranda must have heard her crying because the next thing I know she's in here and demanding that I hand her over". "Then, you just would not believe it", he declared dramatically, "She just stopped. Just like that. Not a single sound". "When she started to cry again, Miranda just curled her finger and stuck it straight into her mouth", he said making the motion with his hands, "She said that Elisa is teething so she took her into her office and demanded that her assistant go and get some teething gel and toys before she sent me back to work".

Andrea stood there for a moment, "So Miranda has my daughter?", she questioned.

Nigel nodded, "That's what I said", he stated.

"And she's started teething", Andrea repeated.

"Well, Elisa has, I'm not sure about Miranda", Nigel said with a smirk, "Although that would explain some of her foul moods".

Andrea laughed and shook her head, "Well", she said with a sigh, "I best go and get my daughter, I suppose".

Nigel nodded, "Or you could leave her in the dragon's cave?".

"Breathing fire?", Andy questioned.

"Not unless you count demanding teething gel as breathing fire", Nigel commented, "She seemed rather happy to be holding Elisa, it was quite strange seeing her so… maternal".

"She does have twins Nige", Andrea commented.

Nigel smirked, "The same point that she made Six".

Andy rolled her eyes, "I'll see you later", she said before leaving.

X-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-xx-x-x

Miranda was sat on the sofa with the now sleeping baby in her arms, she still had her finger hooked and in the little one's mouth as she had only just fallen asleep but was still sucking on it. Elisa had calmed down with the gel and her pain levels had clearly lowered a lot since Miranda had first taken her from Nigel.

Andrea stood in the doorway for a moment and watched the older woman with her daughter, "Hey", she whispered quietly as she stepped into the office.

"I wondered how long you would stand there and watch", Miranda commented with a slight smirk as she looked up in Andrea's direction, "Hello Andrea".

Andrea smiled brightly at her as she moved closer, "I just wanted to take it all in", she admitted.

"Take what in?", Miranda questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"Nigel told me what happened", Andrea said, ignoring the question, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know that she was teething or I wouldn't have left her".

"You needed to go to that interview Andrea", Miranda stated instantly, "Next time, however, I think it would be preferable if you were to simply leave her with me".

"But… wouldn't it interfere with your work?", she questioned.

Miranda shook her head, "No more than what it would Nigel, in fact, I think it would interfere less with mine than it would his because at least I know how to stop her crying", she highlighted, "I could have just taken her with me to the meeting in the beauty department or I could have made the beauty department come here".

Andrea found herself smiling, "That would definitely shock some of your staff members", she commented with amusement.

The Editor-in-Chief nodded with a soft laugh herself, "Yes, I imagine so", she admitted, "The shock of seeing the dragon lady walking around Runway with a baby in her arms".

"I wish you wouldn't call yourself that", Andrea said softly as she sat down on the sofa with Miranda and her daughter.

"Why?", Miranda questioned as she looked at her, "It's what they call me".

Andrea sighed heavily, "But it isn't true", she pointed out, "I mean look at you right now, you look as far from a dragon as someone could possibly get". "If you were a man in your position, doing your job as well as you do it then they wouldn't even think to call you that or anything else", she commented, "They would just say how great you are at your job".

"True", Miranda replied.

"You really want me to leave her with you if I have a meeting or something?", Andrea questioned.

Miranda nodded, "Yes", she said softly, "I have found that I have rather enjoyed having Elisabeth with me".

"She does seem rather fond of you", Andrea admitted with a fond smile.

"As I am of her", the older woman whispered before pressing a gentle kiss to Elisa's head without waking her or disturbing her in any way.

Andrea smiled at the scene, "Thank you for looking after her Miranda".

"It was no problem Andrea", Miranda highlighted, "As I said, I rather enjoyed spending time with her". She carefully extracted her finger from the infant's mouth before she discreetly wiped it on the blanket that she had pulled out of the pram earlier and wrapped around the child in order to keep her warm, not that it was cold of course. "She's so beautiful", Miranda commented as she ran her finger over the sleeping baby's cheek, "She looks so much like you. Those eyes".

The new Runway writer smiled, "You think I'm beautiful?", she questioned, jokingly, with a smirk on her face.

"Yes", came the sudden and slightly unexpected answer.

Andrea just stared at the woman, her jaw dropped slightly.

"Please Andrea, you are not a fish", Miranda commented, "Do close your mouth".

"Sorry, I just…", Andrea stumbled, "I'm just surprised".

"Why?", the woman questioned.

"I just didn't expect you to even think that I…"

Miranda looked up at her, moving her hand from the child's cheek to Andrea's, "Of course I think you're beautiful Andrea", she said quietly, "I always have done".

Andrea reached up and put her own hand over the top of Miranda's, she could not help but instinctively close her eyes as she took in the feeling of the other woman's skin on hers, the warmth of her hand on her cheek, "Miranda", she whispered.

"Yes?", came the equally quiet response.

"I have always thought you were too", she smiled, "So much so".

Miranda smiled brightly towards her ex-assistant, "I really wish that you would have stayed with me in Paris", she commented sadly as she ran her thumb over the soft skin of Andrea's cheek, "The person who interviewed you? That was the job that I was going to be offering you when we returned to the States". "I had planned to take you on a date too", she revealed, "My beautiful Andrea".

Andy smiled happily, "Oh Miranda", she said softly as she leaned in and pressed her lips to the lips of the other woman's, "If I had known then… I can promise you now that I would never have left".

"You're here now", Miranda highlighted, "I trust that you will not be running away again".

"Never", the woman said with conviction and determination in her voice, "I will never leave you for as long as you want me here".

"Then you will come to the townhouse tonight in order to have dinner with my Bobbseys and me", Miranda said with a smile, "Then you will never leave".

Andrea laughed, "Don't you think it's a bit soon to be moving in?".

"I meant that you will never leave  _me_ ", Miranda corrected, "Moving in is a good idea though, although you're right, maybe we should wait".

She nodded with a smile, "That sounds like a good idea", she said before kissing the woman again.

Miranda held Elisabeth in her arms, the little one still fast asleep and looking rather comfortable in her embrace whilst the woman used her free hand to pull Andrea close, kissing her passionately.

Andrea smiled brightly into the kiss, she could not believe her luck. First, she had gotten the job that she had interviewed for and now she had gotten the woman that she had been in love with for the past year.

Andrea had been pregnant when she went to Paris, not that she nor Nate knew about it at the time despite her being almost four months pregnant when she flew across the ocean. Upon her return to the US, she had visited the Doctor and discovered her pregnancy but Nate did not want anything to do with the Andrea, the pregnancy, or the resulting infant. Five months after returning to the US, and five months after leaving Miranda in Paris, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Elisabeth Miranda Sachs.


	2. Immunity

Miranda smiled softly down at the little girl sleeping in her arms and ran her finger over her soft cheek, at that moment she felt like the luckiest woman in the world because she had the woman she loved back in her life and to make it even better, that exact same woman loved her back. To her, that idea alone was better than she could have hoped for. The beautiful baby girl that lay resting in her arms added a bonus to it all that she could not help but love.

"Does she have a car seat?", the Editor-in-Chief asked as she turned to look at Andrea with a loving smile.

Andrea nodded, "Yes, but she hasn't used it a lot", the woman admitted, "We usually travel using the subway or walking".

"In that case, I will ensure that she has one for the next time that we travel", Miranda said with a smile, "It will be safer than either of us holding her, despite how much I am rather enjoying it". "I would have said that she could use one of the girls' seats from when they were infants but I had them donated to a women's shelter as soon as they had outgrown them", Miranda stated.

"See?", Andrea said with a slight smirk, "I told you that you aren't a dragon".

Miranda sniffed slightly as if to brush it off, "Well, don't go around telling people that", she said with a slight smirk, "You'll ruin my image and goodness knows what will happen if I lose the ability to scare them".

"Well, in that case", Andrea began, "I should probably inform you that I am rather immune to the whole scaring thing".

The older woman could not help but smile and chuckle lightly, "Oh, Andrea", she said softly, "You may have been a little nervous at first but I do not believe that I have ever managed to scare you, however much I tried to".

"I told you", the dark-haired woman said with a smile, "I'm immune".

"And I am more than glad of that fact", Miranda replied with a smile as she kept a secure hold on the teething infant with both hands, despite wanting to take Andrea's hand, she wanted to ensure that Elisabeth was safe and if the car was to suddenly stop then she might drop her if she were to be only holding her with one hand rather than two.

Andrea reached out as if she knew what Miranda was wanting, although then again she always was quite good at working out what the other woman wanted, she gently placed her hand on Miranda's thigh before kissing her cheek lovingly.

It did not take them long to arrive at the townhouse where they both knew that two rather energetic redheaded children would be waiting for them when they walked in the door. Although, it would be a surprise for them as they were unaware that their mother would be home early that day and they definitely did not know that they would have company either.

The girls had stayed in contact with Andrea but had not spent very much time with her and Elisabeth since the woman had left Runway in Paris. Neither girls would say that she left their mother because to them, she didn't really. She knew that the two women liked each other in a non-professional manner and they also knew what Elisabeth's middle name was. The choice of Elisabeth's middle name highlighted that Andrea had never truly left Miranda because the woman was always in her mind, enough that she named her newborn baby after the older woman.

Although Andrea would be reluctant to ask how their mother was, this was out of the worry that it would be inappropriate or simply none of her business, Caroline and Cassidy always made sure to update the dark-haired woman on how their mother was. It was something that they both knew that Andrea appreciated, that much was obvious from the smile that appeared on her face whenever Miranda was mentioned.

When Roy opened the car door, Miranda stepped out very carefully with Elisabeth in her arms, who was still wrapped in a light blanket. The man then got the pram out of the back of the car and carried it up the stairs, following both of the women.

"Girls", Miranda called out in her usual soft manner.

"Mom!", both Caroline and Cassidy screeched as the ran down the stairs although the sound was closer to that of a stampede which made Miranda cringe slightly.

"Please quieten down", their mother requested politely but it was too late because as they reached the last staircase Elisabeth began to cry after being awoken by the sound of the children.

"Shhh...", Miranda said softly as she began to rock the little one.

Caroline and Cassidy were clearly both surprised to see Andrea, they would have thrown themselves into their mother's arms but they knew that she would want to calm Elisabeth first so they opted to run and almost launch themselves at Andy instead.

"Hey", Andrea said with a smile as she embraced them both at once, she was smiling brightly and was clearly happy to have both of them in her arms again.

Miranda gradually calmed Elisabeth, however, she did not go back to sleep, "Girls", she said softly, "How about we go the kitchen and geet drinks? Maybe some snacks? Then we can all go up to the den?".

"Will I get to hold Elisa?", Cassidy asked as she moved closer to her mother and went up on her toes to get a better look at the baby.

The Editor-in-Chief did not find herself surprised at the fact that her daughter knew the baby's name and she did not, although it did make her rather sad to realise it. She nodded in response and then looked down into Elisabeth's wide-open eyes as she found herself wondering what it would have been like to have been able to have been there for the first few months of the infant's life and even wondering what it might have been like to be there for Andrea's pregnancy.

"Are you coming, Mom?", Caroline asked from the doorway wondering why she was standing there staring at the baby when everyone else had made their way to the kitchen. Andrea had already been dragged there by a rather energetic Cassidy whilst they were both talking about milkshakes.

They took their milkshakes upstairs and settled down in the den for a relaxing evening before Miranda reluctantly let each of the children hold Elisabeth and lay her down on a blanket on the floor so that the children could interact with her a little more. When Miranda got to feed her, she was more than happy to and had to promise to let each of the girls feed her next time, with permission of Andrea of course. Their dinner, however, was not as healthy as what the little one was drinking because they had the rare treat of ordering in pizza. Miranda rarely let them order pizza but to her, it was a special occasion and neither twin was going to question it because who would question pizza?

"Stay?", Miranda whispered softly at the end of the night after both Caroline and Cassidy had gone to sleep.

Andrea smiled as she leaned forward and pressed a loving kiss to Miranda's lips, "Okay", she agreed happily, not wanting to spend the night away from the other woman.


	3. A Calmer Day

"Are you sure about this, Miranda?", Andrea questioned with uncertainty in her voice as she observed her ex-boss cradling her young daughter. It had been three weeks since the day that Miranda had taken Elisabeth from Nigel and the relationship between the two women had blossomed

Miranda tried not to roll her eyes at the worry and concern that her girlfriend was showing, "Have I ever said anything that I didn't mean?", she asked her patiently.

Andrea shook her head, "No", she admitted quietly.

"Then why would I offer to take Elisabeth to Runway with me if I did not mean it?", the Editor-in-Chief enquired with a soft smile as she held the infant in her arms like the most precious parcel in the entire world.

"You wouldn't", Andrea said softly, "I just don't want her to interfere with your work or cause you any problems by being there".

"I am sure that Elisabeth could not possibly cause any more trouble than what my staff do", the white-haired woman said with a slight smirk, "I am sure that she will be great company at the office which will be a change to the usual at Runway incompetence".

Andrea could not help but laugh slightly at the comment about Runway staff, "Even with her teething?", the woman asked her as she stepped forward to brush her fingers over Elisabeth's cheek.

Miranda smiled and reached up one hand to cup Andrea's cheek whilst the other kept a secure hold on the baby, "Even with her teething", she confirmed, "Now, you need to get going or you're going to be late".

The young writer nodded and pressed a soft kiss to Elisabeth's head before pressing another to Miranda's lips, "I'll see you at lunch", she said with a smile.

"Good luck with your interview, Andrea", the woman said with an encouraging smile as her lover left the office to make her way to her first interview as she had been tasked with interviewing Donatella for what Miranda had planned to be an issue focusing on female designers.

Once Andrea had left the Editor-in-Chief's office, Miranda looked down at Elisabeth who was staring back up at her, "It looks like it's just us", she said softly as she sat down in her chair, "Well, until the run through in a few minutes".

Elisabeth squealed and kicked her legs with a big smile on her face.

"Hmm", Miranda said softly, "I do hope that your excitement means that they have something decent to show me".

The infant simply drooled as she gurgled strange noises in the woman's direction.

It did not take long for a knock to sound through Miranda's office to notify the woman of the arrival of her staff members, "Well, do come in", their boss said in a bored tone directed at the other adults in the room.

As the railings of items were moved into the room, the staff members were eager to get a look at the little girl that was safely embraced in their boss' arms. Most of them diverted their eyes though when Miranda looked up in their direction before standing up from her chair.

Jocelyn, unlike the others, appeared to have no question about approaching the little one and consequently her boss, "Hello Elisa", she said softly as she reached out and stroked her cheek.

The staff members watched on with uncertainty at the situation as the wondered what their 'dragon' of a boss would do with the behaviour.

Miranda, however, was rather patient and allowed her employee to greet the infant whilst keeping a very protective eye on the baby. The only reason she allowed it was because Elisabeth appeared to be rather happy with the other woman's attention as she gurgled with a drooling smile.

After allowing Jocelyn to speak to Elisabeth for a moment, the older woman spoke quietly, "Now that you've had time with Elisabeth, I would like to start the run-through", she said and paused before continuing, "I do hope you managed to get some ideas from her as the last run-through was abysmal".

Jocelyn bit her lip, forcing herself not to laugh at what her boss had said, especially as the last run-through had been done whilst she had been absent which meant that the horrid affair had not been her fault as she had not had any input in it that day, "Yes, Miranda", she replied simply before turning to start with the assistance of the others.

The run-through went rather well and half-way through, Elisabeth decided to begin to chew on Miranda's necklace as she listened to the reasoning behind the choice of a particular pair of shoes. Miranda glanced down at the tug on her neck and smiled softly at the gurgling infant, she was rather glad that she had managed to get a teething necklace as the child had a strong oral fixation due to her teething.

The teething child had managed to drool on many of Miranda's clothing items and had even sucked on patches of the clothing at times, especially if it was silk as that seemed to be a favourite of the little one. The necklace was made of simply silicone but the way that the geometric beads were placed and the colour shades used made it appear as if it were any other designer necklace. Miranda, however, loved to spend time with the infant, even if it meant sacrificing some of her designer clothing.

The option of switching out her necklace to the teething one had been a suggestion from Caroline who noticed her mother's worry whenever Elisabeth would grab at her necklaces and attempt to 'eat' them. Caroline had seen the necklaces when she had researched teething along with her sister. The two girls wanted to know more about teething and about the development of babies so that they could help to look after Elisabeth and also to find a way to stop her crying when her teeth and gums were hurting her. Cassidy especially was not keen on the idea of putting her finger in the baby's mouth, not only worried that she would have her finger 'bitten off' but also because she really was not keen on the slobber that came from the baby's mouth when she 'chewed' on her finger.

Staff members that were present at the run-through did their best to focus on what they were supposed to be doing but kept glancing over at the baby in their boss' arms who was gnawing on the woman's necklace and gurgling quite happily in her arms. Miranda, meanwhile was listening to what her staff were telling her and doing everything that she would normally do during a run-through but whilst she was rocking the infant in her arms and seeming quite content to have the bundle of joy present.

"That's all", she said after a while, announcing the end of the run-through before turning her attention so that it was solely on the little one.

Everyone quickly cleared out of their boss' office, dragging everything with them that they had taken in there with them but Jocelyn paused before she left in order to say goodbye to the infant who gurgled happily with Miranda's necklace still in her mouth.

Everything went quite well that day, Miranda seemed to be in a very good and rather calm mood all morning which everyone seemed to believe was due to the presence of the baby that spent the majority of the time in the woman's arms. The only time that she was not in the woman's arms was when she was sleeping in the bassinet that she had demanded her assistant went and fetched for Elisabeth.

The orders that morning were a little different compared to what they would be on any other day because they included things like warming up bottles of milk, fetching a new teething toy, getting a new outfit when the child spat up her milk down her beautiful little designer outfit and finding a nursery mobile for the bassinet. The presence of the baby definitely made for an intriguingly different day within the halls of Runway that day and as many would agree, a more pleasant one too.

Elisabeth was very happy to be at the office, not that she knew where she was, but she simply seemed to love being in Miranda's arms and would respond with excitement everytime that the Editor-in-Chief spoke to her, although the reaction was the complete opposite if the woman was to ignore her for what the baby deemed 'too long'. A meeting with Irv had been cut short that morning all because Elisabeth opted to take quite a strong disliking to the man and to being in his office. He had attempted, rather nicely actually, to interact with the infant when Miranda arrived in his office despite making it clear to her that he did not approve of the child's presence in the workplace. Elisabeth was not willing to allow the interaction though and her screams made that crystal clear.

Miranda smirked as she sat down in her chair and waited for Andrea's arrival, "It seems that we share the same opinion of that weasel", she said quietly to the child about the clear dislike of Irv. The woman was rather happy with her day so far and was glad that she had volunteered to take the baby for the day, originally she was supposed to only take her for a couple of hours whilst Andrea was doing her interview and then writing it up but Miranda insisted that if she took Elisabeth for the entire day then it meant that Andrea would be able to complete the article rather than just writing up her notes onto the computer in a brief format. The Editor-in-Chief found herself feeling much calmer and happier than she usually did in the office, but not only that, she quickly realised that the presence of the infant convinced her employees as well as the woman that she had had a meeting with following the run-through to do whatever it was that she asked of them at a much more efficient pace. The woman had also discovered how helpful Jocelyn could truly be as the woman was happy to take Elisabeth and change her whilst Miranda was on the phone to a designer that she was due to meet the following week. Not only that but the woman continuously ensured that Miranda had everything needed for the baby.


	4. Guard Dog

It was an ordinary Sunday morning and the light was starting to filter through the small gap in the curtains when a loud cry of 'Ma' echoed through the house and through the baby monitor that was residing on Miranda's bedside table. The bedside table that had now become Andrea's due to the amount of time that the woman, along with her now six-month-old baby stayed at the townhouse.

It was only recently that the word 'Ma' had appeared but due to the fact that she had such a limited vocabulary, it meant that almost everyone had become 'Ma'. That included Miranda which the woman was pleased about but it also included the other adults in her life.

Cassidy and Caroline had ended up being called 'Ga' which was not quite either of their names but the two girls were happy with it anyway. They were just overjoyed to be able to be a part of the little one's life as it meant that they got a younger sibling that they could dote on and even dress up like a life-sized doll.

Miranda got up from the bed as she heard the continuous cries of 'Ma' coming through the little speaker, "I'll get...", she said softly, not finished her sentence as the cries stopped and she started 'talking' which was really her babbling what seemed to be nonsense.

The babbling continued as if the little one was talking to someone but usually the sound of one or both of the twins' voices would come through the speaker with that sound but it did not this time.

When the Editor-in-Chief got to the nursery that she had designed and made especially for the little girl, she realised who the baby was talking to and why she seemed so happy to see them.

Patricia had gone up to the side of the cot when she had heard the cries of the little girl, the dog repeatedly slept in Elisabeth's bedroom as the infant's personal guard dog. The dog hated anyone going near the baby that wasn't one of their family members or someone that she deemed to be 'safe', this did not include health visitors or the nanny that they had employed for less than a day. Patricia had pressed herself up against the side of the crib where the now crawling infant could reach her fur. The animal seemed to know that Elisabeth liked the soft feel of her fur coat and so often positioned herself where the child could stroke it. Due to the fact that Elisabeth was now crawling, she had managed to crawl to Patricia multiple times and lay on her to fall asleep as she stroked her clean fur.

Miranda stood in the doorway as she leaned against the frame and watched the little girl that she had started to see as her own. The woman loved Elisabeth just as much as she did both Caroline and Cassidy.

It did not take long for Elisabeth to notice Miranda watching them and she was back to shouting 'Ma' as loudly as she possibly could.

'Ma' moved into the room and scooped the six-month-old infant from her cot, "Good Morning, Elisabeth", she said gently as she pressed a loving kiss to the top of her head.

Elisabeth simply repeated the same word over and over again in between making smacking noises with her lips.

Miranda smiled brightly at the little girl's actions and smothered Elisabeth's face with multiple kisses making her grin and laugh at the feeling.

Andrea stepped into the room and carefully wrapped her arms around her lover, "I love watching you with her", she admitted, "You look beautiful together".

The older woman turned her head to kiss her girlfriend softly.

"I love you so much", Andrea continued.

"I love you too", Miranda replied straight away, and it showed in her eyes and facial expressions as she said it that she truly did love the ex-assistant.

"Ma! Ma! Ma! Ma", Elisabeth shouted, apparently she was not keen on having the attention of her 'Ma' Miranda being taken away from her.

Miranda laughed at the actions and she smothered the baby in another set of kisses which was apparently just what Elisa wanted because she calmed down and was happy again.

The two women made their way to the living room so that they could relax for a bit and so that Elisabeth could have some time to crawl around on the floor.

When they got to the room Miranda placed Elisabeth on the playmat on the floor where a mix of the child's toys was scattered.

Patricia had followed the two women downstairs and had plonked herself down on the edge of the playmat to watch the little girl play.

Elisabeth picked up a stuffed doll and crawled over to the dog before placing it in front her.

The dog rested her head on the stuffed, blonde-haired doll which seemed to make the baby quite happy.

After the baby had been playing for a while, Cassidy and Caroline made their way downstairs and into the living room where Elisabeth greeted them both with enthusiastic cries of 'Ga!'.

The twins both moved to the playmat where they threw themselves down on the soft material, one on each side of the little girl.

"Ga! Ga!", she shouted happily as she threw herself on Caroline first who held her in a tight hug.

"Good Morning, Elisa", Caroline said with a cheerful smile before kissing the girl's cheek.

When Caroline let the child go, the little one instantly threw herself onto Cassidy who was not as awake as her twin sister, "Ga!", she shouted excitedly as she bounced around.

Miranda and Andrea smiled from their place on the sofa as they watched their children interacting with each other, "Would you like some breakfast girls?", the older of the two asked them quietly.

The two older girls responded with excitement as they knew that their mother was planning on making them freshly cooked waffles that day using her secret recipe and they both loved them. Elisabeth started to show signs of excitement too but hers seemed to be a reaction to what the two older girls were doing rather than her own excitement at the prospect of breakfast.

The Editor-in-Chief made her way down to the kitchen in order for her to start making her 'special waffles' for her family and she could not help but smile at the immense happiness that she felt in her heart. The woman looked up at the photos that had taken up their place in the hallway and found herself smiling even more as she looked at the smiling faces of her family. The canvas that now resided above the 'table with the flowers on it' was something that she rather enjoyed looking at as it was a photo of all five of them that had been taken during a photo shoot a month previously. Miranda had wanted photos of them all so she had arranged for one of their best photographers to do a photoshoot for them in their own home. Over the past three months, the house had become a home but not just that as it had also become a home to two extra people.

Upstairs in the living room, Elisabeth was climbing all over the two older girls as they laughed and giggled at her behaviour. They adored the baby girl and spoiled her as much as they possibly could. They had even put together some of their spending money to buy the little girl a giant teddy bear. A teddy bear that was so big that even its feet were bigger than Elisabeth but when the two women came home to find it in the nursery they were informed by the two older girls that Elisa 'needed' it. Neither of the women argued with their logic as they found it adorable that the girls wanted to spoil their new sister as that is what they had decided to call her.

Cassidy and Caroline loved it when Elisabeth was taken to events at Dalton or when one of the women came to pick them up from school with the child in tow as it gave them the opportunity to show off their little sister and they would happily tell anyone who would listen everything they could about the little one. They were very excited to be able to tell people about the first time the baby said 'Ga' and 'Ma' as well as the first time that the little one had crawled and even the first time that Elisa had pulled their hair. The latter was something that made them decide to put their hair up more often to give the girl a little less to tug on, although they quickly realised that Elisa was rather fond of braids and she would tug at them much more than she would when their hair was down. The two of them also realised, however, that they could tickle the little girl with their hair by trailing it over her, which was something that she seemed to like as it always made her laugh and grin.

When Miranda returned to the room with the tray that contained breakfast and placed it on the coffee table, she could not help but smile at the sight of her girls playing on the floor whilst Patricia kept a close eye on the three of them. The woman looked over towards the sofa and her smile grew even more as she noticed the smile on her lover's face. She had more during that moment than she thought she could have ever hoped for.


	5. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am currently working on my dissertation for my Master's degree which means that there may not be any updates until after the 24th. Although, this was a random break.

Elisabeth was now an active nine-month-old baby and a very happy one too. Miranda found herself loving having the little girl around and taking her to work with her was a joy. The baby was usually in the Elias-Clarke daycare unit whilst the two women were working but the Editor-in-Chief was quite often 'stealing' the child from their care to take her to her office. Elisabeth was a very well-behaved child who was interested in everything and anything but barely cried or complained about anything. It was quite normal now for her to take the baby with her to certain meetings or events and those around Miranda loved the opportunity to spoil the child. Some of those people, however, were simply attempting to spoil the child in order to get the fashion queen's attention. A scheme that Miranda was more than aware of but she did not care as despite the gifts lavished on her 'darling princess' she did not play into their games at all.

Lunch with Donatella was a regular arrangement as they would always get together at least once a month although recently those meetings had doubled and they had been meeting twice each month instead. Miranda suspected that it was not her company that the woman was seeking out but that of the bundle of joy that she always took with her to those lunch 'meetings' with the eccentric Italian fashion designer.

Miranda had dressed Elisabeth in an outfit that had been gifted to her by Donatella Versace herself. It consisted of a white top with the Versace logo on the front in a golden colour along with a pair of leggings which were white with a golden Barocco print which had leather ballerina shoes to match the pattern. The bib that the little girl would wear when eating was also Versace as it was their circular Medusa bib which was also in the colours of gold and white.

Fashion was a passion for Miranda and to have another little girl to dress up was great to her, even if Andrea joked that Elisabeth was her little doll. Despite the joking, Andrea loved to see her girlfriend and her daughter interact with each other as it made her heart soar to see them get along so well. She had dreamed for so long about a life with Miranda and to have a daughter with her was beyond her wildest dreams. That was what she was though, she was their daughter, not just Andrea's anymore. The child loved to spend time with both of them and both of them treated her as their daughter. To Miranda, there was no difference between Cassidy, Caroline, and Elisabeth as the youngest had taken up a space in her heart just the same as the twins had when they had been born. She did, however, wish that she had been able to be there for Elisabeth's birth and there for Andrea throughout the woman's pregnancy but despite efforts to find the young woman initially, she had somehow vanished and could not be located, although it was possible that the information just was not being given to Miranda despite the threats of unemployment.

Some of the people in the restaurant turned to look at the door when the Editor-in-Chief walked through the door and Donatella stood up straight away as they approached, "Buongiorno my darling", she greeted Miranda with a light kiss to the cheek before focusing on the little one, "and Buongiorno Tesoro".

"Good Morning to you too", Miranda replied rather cheerfully as she held the grinning baby in her arms, the little one had woken in a great mood that day but also a mood that apparently meant that she wanted to be attached to Miranda for the day.

The woman had planned to take the little girl with her to the lunch 'meeting' anyway but she had not initially planned on having her in the office all day instead of the daycare where she was supposed to be whilst herself and Andrea were working. Miranda, however, did not complain about the alternative arrangements that the infant appeared to insist upon. She had planned on dropping off Elisabeth to the daycare facilities before work but the young girl had clung to Miranda tightly and screamed when a daycare worker came near them so, rather than allowing the worker to take her daughter and rather than allowing her to cry as she left, she opted to take her with her upstairs to the offices of Runway instead.

Irv, as per usual, was not impressed with the infant's presence although that could have something to do with the fact that she cried and screamed at the sight of his face. Others that worked at Runway, however, loved her being there and the overall atmosphere appeared to be lifted with her presence which had Miranda contemplating having her up in the offices much more often. Rather than the work of the employees suffering, as Irv had claimed on a multitude of occasions, it actually had the opposite effect as the work that the employees were producing appeared to be improved.

A crawling infant being given the freedom of the floor of Runway was definitely an interesting development, it was something that not only appeared to entertain the staff members but also to increase their health and safety awareness when they realised that little fingers could now reach things that they should not be allowed to touch. This was something that increased even more due to the more recent developments of Elisabeth learning how to stand up.

"Wow", Donatella gasped as she looked at the little girl in awe, "You are growing so quick".

Miranda found herself chuckling lightly as she sat down in their slightly more private dining area, "Yes, she definitely is", she agreed straight away, "So fast in fact that she has started to walk". The woman bounced the baby on her knee slightly, "Not quite at the unassisted level but she appears to be rather happy to hold on to whatever she can so that she can walk", she revealed, "It started this morning when she decided to grab hold of Jocelyn's leg and walk". Miranda looked down at Elisabeth before back up at Donatella.

Donatella laughed, "She is practising, no?", she said in her strong Italian accent, "For now she walks with your minions and soon she will be bossing them around".

The Editor-in-Chief rolled her eyes but found herself rather amused anyway.

Lunch was a peaceful event and Donatella seemed to rather enjoy fussing over the infant. Elisabeth had the home cooked baby food that Cara had previously prepared for her, however, she seemed much more fascinated with what the adults were eating despite not being able to actually eat it yet.

When it came to the dessert though, Miranda had coffee as she never usually ate dessert when she was out. She would tell people that she never ate dessert at all but that was not entirely true as she could devour a tub of Ben and Jerry's ice-cream as quickly as anyone else could. Donatella went with a sundae that consisted of Madagascan Vanilla Gelato and a selection of fruit and sauces.

Elisabeth had spent the entire meal in Miranda's lap and the woman had been pretending to feed her from her own plate although the majority of the food had actually been the baby food that Cara had prepared. Sometimes the little girl stayed home with Cara but usually, Cara only looked after her when she was also looking after the twins as Miranda preferred to have the child close to her. When Elisabeth was a little older then Miranda and Andrea would allow her to stay home with Cara more in preparation for her to attend Dalton when she reached school age.

Suddenly, the ice-cream caught the child's attention and she was bouncing on Miranda's lap with her arms stretched out in Donatella's direction.

The enthusiastic Italian woman was over the moon to such excitement from the child and carefully put her arms out to take her, making sure that her actions were slow as she knew how protective that Miranda could be over the little girl. When the little one was resettled in the blonde's arms, she was reaching out for the ice-cream.

Donatella smiled with amusement at Miranda's facial expression, "Do not be jealous, it is not a good look", she stated simply, "Look, your daughter wants my gelato not me".

Miranda rolled her eyes, "Fine she can have some but not too much", she said knowing what Donatella wanted to do as she always did.

Elisabeth was rather happy with the arrangement that she appeared to have with Donatella when it came to dessert as the woman always seemed to be willing to share her ice-cream with her. The fashion designer was sat with the baby in her lap and carefully sharing her gelato with the infant.

Whilst the blonde woman was distracted, Miranda took a photo on her cell phone so that she could send it to Andrea.

On the other side of town, Andrea was outside of Dalton ready to collect the girls from school as she had agreed to take them out on their lunch break rather than them having it in the usual cafeteria. She unlocked her cell phone in order to take a look at the photo and she could not help but laugh at the sight. The photo was of Donatella Versace in a rather high-class restaurant wearing very expensive clothing whilst nine-month-old Elisabeth sat on her lap grinning and covered in ice-cream. Many would freak over having such a sticky child on them, even if the sticky child happened to be the daughter of the Editor-in-Chief and even if the sticky child herself was dressed in designer clothing. Donatella, however, did not care about any mess that the little one made, even when Elisabeth had previously put slobber all over Donatella's new dress during a teething emergency.


	6. Mamma

Ten-month-old Elisabeth Miranda Sachs was growing up rather quickly and meeting all of her developmental stages, pleasing both of her mothers. She could be quite shy around some people but for those she knew she was an outgoing little girl full of giggles. 

 

“Good Morning, Andy”, one of the security guards greeted her with a bright smile as he opened the gate so that she could push Elisa’s pram through the gate with both Cassidy and Caroline following her through. 

 

In the same way that people evacuated the elevator when Miranda arrived, they did the same that day with the four of them which made the older girls giggle and Andrea roll her eyes at their behaviour. She recognised the three women, however, as Runway employees. 

 

On the way up to the floor of Runway, Cassidy bent down so that she was the same height as baby Elisabeth, “We’re going to see Mama, Elisa”, she said enthusiastically with a huge smile, “Say Mamma? Mamma”. 

 

Elisabeth gurgled and babbled a little with random, “Ca”, she said pointing to the girl in front of her, “Ca Ca”. 

 

Cassidy laughed and smiled, “Cass”, she tried quite happily. 

 

“Ca”, Elisabeth shouted, the sound echoing in the metal elevator, “Caaasssssss”. 

 

The eleven-year-old grinned, “That’s right, Cass”, she said as she pointed to herself. 

 

“Casssssssssssssssssssssss”, Elisabeth repeated whilst elongating the ‘s’ sound and making it sound more like a hissing snake than a small child. 

 

“We’re going to see Mamma”, Cassidy said happily, “Will you say Mamma?”. 

 

As the elevator opened and they moved to step out of it, a rather loud yell came from the smallest of them all, “Mammmaaaaa!”. 

 

“I guess the surprise isn’t so much of a surprise anymore”, Andrea commented in amusement. 

 

In her office, Miranda could not help but smile at the sound of the little one yelling, especially as it was usually ‘Ma’ that she shouted but now her words were forming a little more so ‘Mama’ was a great development. One flick of her wrist dismissed the staff members that were in her office and they filed out as quickly as their high heels could possibly carry them. 

 

Miranda brushed off the imaginary lint from her skirt and stepped out of her office as Andrea came through the door pushing the pram with the help of Caroline who held the door open for the woman quite happily. 

 

Cassidy ran forward and wrapped her arms around her mother’s waist, she had a huge smile on her face when she greeted the woman. 

 

“Hello, Cassidy”, Miranda said softly as she held her daughter close to her and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. 

 

“Mamma!!!!”, came the yell from the noisiest child and smallest child in the room, she was clapping her hands in the air with a huge grin on her face indicating that she wanted to be picked up. 

 

Miranda smiled happily as she stepped forward to greet her other twin daughter first before unstrapping the loud infant from her pram. 

 

Elisabeth quietened a little once she was securely in Miranda’s arms, so instead of yelling ‘Mama’, she was just babbling it as she snuggled into the woman. 

 

Miranda smiled as she stepped closer to Andrea, shuffling their daughter to one side so that she could use one arm in order to tug the other woman closer to her and kiss her softly, “Good Morning, my love”, she said quietly to her. 

 

Andrea smiled happily, “Good Morning”, she said happily before kissing her again. 

 

Little Elisa started smacking her own lips and saying Mamma, it made the others laugh before Miranda kissed the child’s face multiple times leaving a few lipstick marks on her skin and making the child giggle. 

 

“Not that I’m complaining”, Miranda said quietly, “But what brings you all here? If I had known you were coming I would have ordered us all something for lunch”. 

 

Andrea smiled, “That’s already sorted”, she replied, “We decided that we wanted to come and spend your lunch break with you and have lunch together”. 

 

“Thank you”, Miranda whispered softly before kissing the other woman again, somehow Andrea seemed to know exactly what Miranda needed, many times before Miranda even knew herself. A lunch break with her three children and her girlfriend after a morning of dull and uninspired meetings was definitely something that she needed. 


	7. Fairies

Miranda stepped into the bedroom, as she did so she looked up at the letters that had been attached to the door. The letters were a painted Royal Purple with Fairytale Pink accents and multiple little fairies dancing around the cursive lettering of Elisabeth’s name. The Editor-in-Chief smiled at the fact that the artist had opted to choose her handwriting for the sign. 

 

She stepped into the room, her high-heels pushing lightly into the deep and very soft royal purple carpet. The fibres of the carpet was laced with glitter which made the room sparkle a little as if by magic. Miranda looked around at the room and was rather pleased by the look of the room. The walls were painted with a Fairytale Pink that matched the glitter of the handmade door sign and just like on the sign, there were fairies dancing all over the walls. The ceiling was painted to make it look as if it were a natural sky and the chandelier glistened in the light with crystals dangling from it. The curtains were a Royal Purple to match the carpeted floor and were hung from a silver pole whilst behind it was a set of blinds to help darken the room when it was too light out. 

 

The room contained a white sleigh crib, it was the crib that Miranda had purchased months previously especially for the child to sleep in whenever she stayed over at the townhouse. Recently she had slept over an increasing amount so Miranda planned to transform the spare room into a room just for her special little girl. There was a built-in closet too as well as a set of drawers which matched the sleigh crib. 

 

The bedding within the crib was Fairytale pink with white frills and in the corner was the stuffed dragon that Caroline had won for Elisabeth at a fair a week previously and that the little girl had decided to sleep with every single night. She could even ‘Roar’ like a dragon and it always gave her the giggles afterwards. Her favourite requests at the moment were ‘Roar Mamma’ and ‘Book Mamma’, everything had Mamma on the end of it. Sometimes that meant Andrea and other times it meant Miranda. If Miranda was in sight, however, it usually meant it was her but the woman loved every millisecond of it. 

 

“It’s beautiful”, Andrea said softly from the doorway. 

 

Miranda could not help but smile at the sight of her girlfriend, however, at the same time she did feel a little disappointed, “It was meant to be a surprise”. 

 

“It will be”, the younger woman replied with a smile, “Elisa hasn’t seen it yet, she’s downstairs with the girls”. 

 

The Editor-in-Chief smiled and wrapped her arms around her ex-assistant, “How was your day?”, she asked her softly. 

 

“Good”, Andrea replied with a smile, “My parents seem to dote on all three of our girls”. “Both Caroline and Cassidy got on quite well with my parents for the most part”, she revealed. 

 

“Only for the most part?”, Miranda questioned, “And what about Elisabeth?”. 

 

“Well… you know what Elisabeth is like with strangers”, Andrea answered as it was the first time that Andrea had allowed her parents to meet with the children, “When my mother picked Elisabeth up from the pram and wouldn’t allow Caro to take her when she cried, neither Caro nor Cass were fond of my parents anymore which is when we decided to come home”. 

 

“Ah”, Miranda said with a soft smile, she loved how protective the two older children were over the little girl. 

 

“I’m going to get them so they can come up and see the room”, Andrea told her as the children were with Cara on the ground floor, “It’s amazing”. 

 

“Andrea, wait”, Miranda said softly, “Would you do the honour of moving in with us?”. 

 

Andrea smiled and nodded, “Of course”, she answered, “We would love to”. 

 

Miranda tugged the other woman closer and kissed her passionately, “I love you so much”. 

 

“I love you too”, Andrea responded before kissing her again. 

 

It was not that long later when Andrea carried Elisabeth up to the doorway of the room and placed her on the floor. Her twin older sisters were walking with her into the room, although they were on their knees. Elisabeth screamed, “Mamma!”, at the top of her lungs when she toddled into the room and noticed Miranda stood by her bed. 

 

“Wow Mom!”, Cassidy gasped before Caroline commented, “It’s amazing”. 

 

Miranda scooped her now toddling daughter up from the floor before she fell over on her diaper covered bottom again, “Do you like it, Elisabeth?”, she questioned despite the little one not having the ability to quite communicate fully. 

 

Elisabeth grinned and said, “Mamma”, before she turned to look down at her crib, “Ragon!”. 

 

“Okay, my darling”, Miranda said softly before she leaned down to pick up the dragon and hand it to her youngest child, “Here is your dragon”. 

 

“Roar Mamma”, Elisabeth insisted happily. 

 

Miranda rolled her eyes but did it anyway, roaring and making the dragon ‘move’ about a little bit. 


	8. Happiness

****

It was Elisabeth Miranda Sachs’ 1st birthday and she was dressed in a white designer dress that had been made especially for her by Donatella Versace herself. The woman had designed it so that there was a golden dragon on the side of it and there was the traditional Versace patterning also decorating the material. The little girl seemed to love dragons and she loved the dress along with the ribbons that had been placed in her hair to match the gold of the material. 

Cassidy and Caroline were wearing more grown up versions although in their favourite colours. 

The room was decorated with many different shades of pink and purple with balloons everywhere. Some of the balloons were even shaped like dragons with a couple of them being the walking style balloons that rested on the floor of the living room. Banners adorned the walls and announced the little girl’s first birthday celebration. 

The table was covered with a pink tablecloth which was topped with a pile of presents. The gifts were all shaped differently and wrapped in a mix of different papers whilst some of them even had different bows decorating them. 

Their friends had come to celebrate her birthday with the little girl on her special day. Serena and Emily had come together, so had Nigel and his new boyfriend; Doug. Jocelyn had also come to the townhouse and bought her five-year-old son; Jaycob and three-year-old Sean with her. Andrea’s parents had also come to the townhouse to spend some time with their grandchildren. Cara had stayed to help out with the party despite being given the day off and being invited as a guest instead, the woman had been allowed to bring her ten-year-old niece with her who had become friends with the girls over the years. The little girl whose name was Lana had first met the twin girls six years previously when her mother became ill and Cara had to look after her but at the same time needed to work for Miranda. Lana had gone to Miranda’s townhouse with her aunt Cara. Donatella had also arrived with her daughter; Allegra who had taken a shining to the little girl when the family had visited the Versace studios. 

Everyone was singing ‘Happy Birthday’, even Miranda who was actually whisper-singing the song to the little girl. She was singing it in a way that meant that it was just for her and nobody else. Nobody else could hear the Editor-in-Chief singing over the sound of the others singing but the feel of the woman’s breath on Elisabeth’s ear was making her giggle happily. 

Miranda wrapped an arm around her youngest daughter as she whisper-sung the song to her whilst Andrea stood beside them. Serena was happily filming it for them and when the song was over, the two mothers kissed their daughter’s cheeks. 

Elisabeth loved her birthday party and after a while she fell asleep sprawled across Miranda’s lap with a bottle of milk in her mouth and a little bit of icing in her hair from the cake that she had consumed. Miranda ran her fingers through the little girl’s hair as Andrea leaned her head on the woman’s shoulder. Cassidy and Caroline were happily playing on the floor with Lana and their ‘crazy-aunt’ Donatella, who seemed more than willing to be sat on the floor playing with toys that the one-year-old had been gifted for her birthday. The kids all seemed to love the woman, it didn’t matter to them how affluent and rich the woman was or how powerful she was in the fashion world because all that mattered to those children was that she made them laugh. 

Miranda smiled happily as she watched her older children laughing on the floor with her friend, then she looked down in her arms at her tired out youngest daughter and her smile simply grew until she looked at the head that leaned on her shoulder and it could not grow anymore. Her love for the four of them made her heart feel like it was exploding, in a good way, blooming and bursting with love. She felt happier with her family than she ever thought could be possible and she found herself looking forward to more birthdays to come for them all. She was excited to see her children grow up but at the same time she found herself wanting them to stay small. 


End file.
